Pentagon insider: Trump's only option to obliterate Iran's deadly labs
Only a tactical nuclear warhead would be certain to destroy Iran's key uranium enrichment base hidden inside a mountain, a military official has told the Daily Mail. It comes amid doubts that 30,000-pound 'bunker buster' bombs would be enough to destroy the secretive facility at Fordo, 60 miles south of Tehran.
Tactical nukes are meant for battlefield use and do not carry the same devastating payloads as strategic nukes, which are used to topple cities. In this case, the warhead selected could be sized for the Fordo site, though no tactical nuclear weapon has ever been used in combat before.
Israeli officials have urged American forces to deploy multiple GBU-57 bunker busters to cripple Fordo, a plant being used to enrich uranium hundreds of feet underground - the depth shields the lab from airstrikes. On Thursday, Trump gave Iran a two-week reprieve to negotiate a settlement that would see it give up on its quest to develop nuclear weapons. But as the crisis drags on, some military officials have expressed practical concerns that the bunker busters might not be enough. One official said, practically, a nuclear warhead would be the only way to be sure of success.
'The nuclear warhead has to happen, whether it's the first strike, second strike or 17th strike... given the location, from what I've read and for what I've seen, it's a difficult spot,' a military official told the Daily Mail. 'In order to be successful with the least amount of casualties, and to be able to get that target and do what we want to do, which is destroy them, it would have to involve a nuclear warhead.' 'Our bombers are the only ones that could get in there,' the official added.
When reached for comment about the use of tactical nuclear weapons in the Middle East, the Pentagon passed along statements from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. 'Over the weekend, I directed the deployment of additional capabilities to the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility,' Hegseth's Monday statement read. 'Protecting US forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region.'
Taking flight late at night, the US stealth planes along with massive refueling planes would take hours to reach Iran's nuclear sites, likely in the early hours between 2 and 4 am Ahead of them would likely fly stealth US fighter jets such as the F-35 to disable or absorb fire from any final defenses awaiting the bombers. Once the B-2s arrive, they'd drop their payloads from up to seven miles above their targets. The weapons they drop are generally guided by satellites to ensure direct hits.
The B-2s can carry up to two bunker busters each or they can carry up to 16 B61 or B83 nuclear weapons. However, using bunker busters does not ensure success. The Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) reportedly found in a study of GBU-57s that a strike on Fordo likely would not be able to completely wipe out Iran's nuclear site.
Instead, it would be disabled for years, according to the Guardian. 'It would not be a one and done,' former DTRA deputy director Randy Manner told the outlet. 'It might set the program back six months to a year. It sounds good for TV but it's not real.' Israeli officials, on the other hand, are confident that multiple strikes with GBU-57s would take out Fordo. However, US officials say the architecture of the Iranian lab makes it difficult to destroy - threatening to protract any potential conflict involving the US.
They are also concerned about Iranian retaliation with drones. 'If they do strike US military bases, then there's going to be a lot more pressure to go in there, and that's also what I'm worried about,' the US official told the Daily Mail. With the recent use of drone warfare in Iran and Ukraine, drone strikes should be a top concern, the official shared. 'It doesn't have to be a missile, it could just be a drone carrying a bomb that could detonate part of the base,' the official continued. 'We're not thinking about this right now.'
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